Improvement in casks, barrels,, and kegs



UNTTED STATES PATENT JOSHUA MERRILL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CASKS, BARRELS, AND KEGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,451, dated October2, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSHUA MERRILL, ofthe city ot' Boston, in the countyof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Gasks, Barrels, and Kegs suitable for Heldin gand Transporting Liquids 5 and I do hereby declare that the following isa full and correct description thereof, reference being had 'to theannexed drawings, and to the letters ot' reference thereon.

My said invention consists of certain improvements upon an improvedcask, barrel, or keg, having its joints ton gued and grooved andcemented, for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted tome, bearing date the 29th day of May, A. D. 1866.

First, in an improved cask, barrel, or keg suitable for holding andtransporting liquids, A

having the joints of the staves and heads (when the head is of more thanone piece) made with two or more tongues and grooves to each joint, incontradistinction to the single tongue-and-groove joints in the patentabove referred to.

Second,in combining,with the tongued-andgrooved joints of cask, barrel,or keg made with two 0r more tongues and grooves to each joint, acoa-tin g or stung of glue or similar gelatinous cement, applied beforethe cask is set up, whereby the joints are rml y cemented by a cementsuitable to resist petroleums, alcohol, and similar fluids that areresisted by glue and similar gelatinons substances.

Third, in combining', with the tongued and grooved joints of a cask,barrel, or keg made with two or more tongues and grooves to each joint,a coating or stuffing of shellac, rosin, or other-similar resinouscement, applied before the cask is set up, whereby the joints arecemented when the staves are driven up by a cement suitable to resistleakage of beer, molasses, or other watery iluids.

But more particularly to describe my said invention I will refer to thedrawings, of which- Figure lis a top view of the eask. Fig. 2 is across-section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the heads andstavcs, and Fin'. 4 is a section of a stave.

The staves n are each made with two or more tongues, b b, and two ormore corresponding grooves, o, as shown in the drawings. The heads d arealso jointed with two 0r more tongues, c o, and two or morecorrespond-ing grooves, ff, if desired. Dowelpins g may be used inputting the head-pieces together.

The staves may be made in the ordinary way, and'tongued and'grooved witha suitable tongue-and-grooving plane, or by machinery which I havedevised, and which I intend to describe and show in another applicationfor Letters Pat-ent for the same; but the casks may be made sufficientlywell by steaming the staves and bending them by rollers andplain-jointin g by machinery prior to tongning and grooving them, aspracticed in large coopera-ges.

I prefer to make the grooves of a V form or a rounded V form 5 but I donot intend to contine myself to the V form of tongues and grooves.Although casks joint-ed as above described are tighter than with plainjoints or with single tongued-and-grooved joints, I preferto cementthesedoubletongued-and-grooved joints with a suitable cement applied tothe joints before the cask is set up, so that the driving up of thehoops squeezes the cement into the pores of the joints, thus resistingleakage and imparting great strength to the cask.

When the casks are to be used for holding and transport-in g petroleums,alcohol, or similar fluids that do not dissolve glue or similargelatinous cement-s, I apply to the joints a solution of hot glue bydipping or with a brush, and set them up as quickly a-s possible.

When the staves are properly made and jointed, there is very littledifficulty in trussing the casks before the glue sets, especially whenthe staves have been bent by machinery.

WVhen the casks, barrels, or kegs are to be used to hold and transportboer, molasses, or other watery fluids, I `cement the doubletongued-and-grooved joints together with s hellao or rosin, or othersimilar resinous cements. In making the shellac solution, I prefer tomix together in about equal proportions alcohol, ninety-ve per cent.,and coal tar, naphtha, or benzole of about '320 Baums hydrometer; and toone pint of this mixture I put in a pound or a pound and ahalf of FFICE.

common gum -shellac. rlhis makes a good thickvarnish, and does not dryso rapidly as shellao dissolved in alcohol alone, thus giving more timeto set up the cask after the cement is applied to the joints. Shellacwill, however, answer, if dissolved in alcohol alone or incausticammonia. Rosin cementmay be made by dissolving in a pint ofcommon naphtha one and a half pound of the rosin of commerce; orgumdammar will answer as well.

The casks made as above described maybe coated inside by a coating ofglue or shellac, according to the liquid the cask is designed for. Thecoating ot' the inside is well known, and not necessary to be described,except to say that it may readily be done with glue by pouring into thecask a few gallons of -hot glue solution, and then, by putting in thebung tight and rolling the cask about, the air within, being heated bythe hot glue, forces it into the pores of the interior surfaces oftheheads and staves.

I claim as of my invention and improvement in casks, barrels, and kegsused for holdingwand transporting liquidsi1. The improved Cask,substantially as described,'having its joints made with two or moretongues and two or more corresponding grooves at each joint,substantially in the way and forthe purposes hereinbefore described.

2. In combination with the joints, a cask having its joints made withtwo or more tongues and two or more corresponding grooves to each joint,and a ooatin g or stufling of glue or similar gelatinous cement appliedto the said joints, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In combination with the joints of a cask having its joints made withtwo or more tongues and two or more corresponding grooves to each joint,a coating or stuffing of shellac, rosin, or similar resinous cementsapplied to the said joints, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

JOSHUA MERRILL.

Vitnesses:

THEoDoRn M. PLIMProN, GEORGE l-IIFos'rnR.

